LPS to avoid as a beginner

[Hoyhoy]

Elegance corals

Agreed. If you want to keep snails then stay away from elegance corals, mine decimated my snail crew quickly.

Another one to be alert of are bubble corals. These things are BEAUTIFUL but highly aggressive, you won't believe how far their tentacles can reach!

 

[tony'stank]

Be careful about green and brown zoas. They may be palys which can quickly take over a tank When stressed rgetadmit a toxin that is leathal and can cause severe illness and even death. Avoid leather corals. They can secrete a toxin that kills other corals

 

[sawdavis]

Coral that is good for beginners: zoanthids, mushrooms (avoid jawbreakers and Bounces), favia, star polyps (caution needs to be taken as these can be invasive), nepthia trees, montipora, trumpet coral, chalice coral (must be less that $60 for about a 1 inch frag)

Moderate level corals: expensive chalice, frogspawn, hammer coral, galaxy coral, brain corals, plate corals, bubble coral, blastos (only solid red, or red and green) acans, cynarina (green only) torch coral (green) Duncan coral

Hard Level corals: scolymia, acanthrophyllia (meat coral), cynarina (reds, yellows, pinks), red gonoporia (red flowerpot), gold torch coral, jawbreaker mushrooms, blastos (the ones with yellow are the hardest), high end zoas (stratospheres and speckled kraks are some of the hardest),

Expert Level corals: gorgonians, all non-photosynthetic sponges, sun coral, green flowerpot, carnation trees, elegance coral,

I did not list many sps corals (except monti) but price typically helps dictate some of the difficulty of these. most of the expensive ones are slow growers and can be lost easy

What makes sponges so difficult to care for? I bought one to replace my Kenya tree, which melted(?) over night for some reason and then read that they should only be for experts. I've had mine for two months now and it looks just fine. I am certainly not an expert (only been at this hobby for about 8 months).

 

[sawdavis]

Easily flowerpot coral. For experts only. I accidentally bought one last week. Oops.

It depends on what flowerpot coral you are referring to as to difficulty. I think the Alveopora flowerpots are super easy, non evasive and beautiful. The goniopora flowerpots are difficult.

 

[Alexnei]

Scolymia,

I kinda disagree with scolys being too hard. People get scared of them but they are quite easy imo.